Let’s talk turkeys.

I don’t usually get very personal on this blog. Recipes are great and all, but honestly? I’m not just vegan for all the delicious, fun food. I’m really here for the animals, which is why I spent spring of 2010 interning at the aptly named Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New York. I think about my time there every single day, and I think about it more this time of year.

Our first full day at the sanctuary, my fellow interns and I were given a tour to meet many of the shelter’s residents. It’s often the traditionally cute and fuzzy mammals that are the first to win over human hearts, and if my memory serves me correctly, at least one person on the tour swore off meat the minute she touched the soft nose of one of the resident cows. Now, I was born in Iowa, and my grandparents are farmers. I spent a lot of time in rural western Iowa growing up. So getting up close with huge, majestic cows and snorting pigs and shy sheep wasn’t all that new to me. Yes, the context was completely different — turned on its head, really. And I was incredibly happy to be there, and to bear witness to these resilient survivors of cruelty and abuse at human hands. But it didn’t blow my mind to look into the eyes of a steer named Snickers and see a living individual with a personality, like many first-time animal sanctuary visitors.

Near the end of our tour, we made our through the snow and slush to a smaller barn to meet the turkeys. Years ago when I was living in the Hudson Valley, I saw wild turkeys crossing the road all the time. But turkeys raised in factory farms (and elsewhere) bear little resemblance to those creatures; they’re bred to grow so large that they have difficulty walking and are completely unable to fly, and they’re covered in white feathers because consumers expect a certain pallor when their dead bodies are on display in the grocery store. I don’t mean to be melodramatic, but seeing those huge white turkeys waddling around, thinking about how humans have played god with an entire species, thinking about how I had previously only seen domesticated turkeys in plastic bags and saran wrap and as some sort of twisted tabletop centerpiece, I just started crying. I felt like the floor had dropped out from under me.

I will never forget being introduced to a tom named Merino. When he was rescued, he was found with a badly disfigured beak. So after he finished each meal everyday, caregivers had to gently clean his face. Despite being mistreated by humans in his youth, this beautiful, sweet tom absolutely adored visitors, and in the months that I was there, I saw him puff up his feathers to show off for every single group that came to visit. To think that anyone could wish harm upon this sweet animal, to know that humans go to such incredible lengths to avoid feeling anything for non-human animals, to avoid even looking at the atrocities humans do to animals every single day — it was crushing.

While I am so incredibly grateful to have met Merino and all of the other turkeys living on the shelter, the vast majority of turkeys never have the opportunity to simply live out their lives in peace. Every single year, something like 45 million turkeys are slaughtered for Thanksgiving alone. (Seriously, do you have any clue how much 45 million is? The statistics alone are mind-numbing.)

I’m not trying to bum anyone out here. If you’re reading this blog, there’s a good chance you’re already vegan. And while I understand that for many, Thanksgiving in America means a good deal of grinning and bearing it, I think it’s important to not just do things by rote, to not just pile on the self-deprecation when people inevitably act like there’s something wrong with you for not eating animal products. I’m definitely not saying you should punch anyone in the face tomorrow. I just believe it’s important not to laugh off veganism as “oh, this funny diet of mine!” or “my ultra-weird lifestyle choice!” My veganism is not a joke. It is not about posturing. It is not a phase. It is about living beings who eat and breathe and think and play and feel pain and love, joy and sorrow just as humans do. There is nothing insane about choosing to not eat animals. There is nothing to fault in feeling — and practicing — compassion toward other sentient beings, human or not.

If you’ve got some cash to spare, or some blank space on your favorite social media outlet, do yourself and some living, breathing turkeys a favor and check out Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt A Turkey Project.

And hey, not to push my luck or anything, but maybe go read a book while you’re at it. Love all beings, y’all.

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17 comments

What a moving experience. I’ve not had the opportunity to even volunteer at a sanctuary yet- sadly there are relatively few in the UK but I think I’d find it pretty tough. I completely agree about not laughing off veganism- for me it’s important to be confident in our beliefs and share them in a non-aggressive but open way. As we don’t have thanksgiving here I’ve got a little longer to prepare myself for the turkey on the table at Christmas.

Thanks for your comment, Emma. I agree with you about trying not to be “aggressive” at the dinner table yet simultaneously being confident and steadfast in our beliefs/practice. Finding the right combination is something I struggle with and think about often. I definitely recommend visiting or volunteering for a sanctuary if you are able! A number of my friends have found it to be a heartening experience that reminded them very tangibly why they are vegan.

Thank you for a beautiful post. It reminds me of why I endure all of my family saying “you’ll get sick”, “don’t plants have feelings,too?”, “animals were put here for us to eat”, and all the rest. We all know the statements that are made. I just have to be true to my ethics. Bless you for serving at Farm Sanctuary. I would love to visit there sometime. And thanks for all you do throughout the year. I love your site. Have a wonderful, animal friendly Thanksgiving!!

I highly recommend visiting Farm Sanctuary, if you’re able to! It is an amazing place full of incredible animals and their caretakers and advocates, and it was such an honor to be able to help out there in some small way. Some day, I hope I have the chance to help out there again. Thanks for your sweet words as usual, Susan. Happy holidays!

Great post. I worked on a farm this summer and although I’ve been vegan for 2 years, my appreciation for our animals grew so much. Thanksgiving can be a tough holiday… a lot of my family simply don’t care to understand why I’m vegan. Reading this reminds ME why I do it, too. Thank you & happy holidays!

Although my family has become much more accommodating over the years, most of them also do not care to understand why I make the food choices I make — and indeed, I think it makes them extremely uncomfortable. While I don’t think being a jerk is going to win over anyone to veganism, I also don’t think it does anyone any good to reassure omnivores about their choice to ignore the horrible realities of animal agriculture.

Great post Claryn. I especially agree with the fact that veganism is not a joke, and that we shouldn’t make fun or our own lifestyle. I’m off to baking some of your chocolate chip cookies!
PS: we don’t have Thanksgiving in France, but it will definitely be helpful for Christmas!

This was a particularly moving piece to me. I’m encouraged to keep sharing my for what it is, and not to downplay it as my “ultra-weird lifestyle choice” just so I don’t get my feelings hurt by sharing who I am and what i believe with someone. Thank you. Also, awesome recipes- thanks for that too.

Thanks for sharing, Meredith. I think people often joke about veganism to disguise their own discomfort and avoid having to ask themselves “tough” questions — but I think it’s important not to play into that or apologize for feeling (and practicing) compassion toward non-human animals. There’s nothing wrong with us for feeling that way! Plus, I think it does a disservice to non-human animals to pretend that our veganism is just some weird, incidental thing we do. For most animals on farms, it’s a matter of life and death.

This made me cry. You have really inspired me. I am really bad about trying so hard not to make others feel uncomfortable about my food choices that sometime I forget to help them understand how I feel and why I feel that way! I will be better! Thank you!!!

Great post! – though, it makes me angry. People ask me why I do as I do all the time. I feel that the implication is often that I need to explain myself, and it would not be too strong to say that I have felt persecuted by animal industry enthusiasts for most of my life. My new thing is to turn it around. Why do you eat animals and animal products? Answers include Because “it has always been that way” Because it is convenient (and no one hassles one about it). Because, having eaten this way all of one’s life, one finds it delicious. Well, medical evidence increasingly substantiates that it is a toxic diet (my bloods speak volumes about the positives of my diet), thermodynamics say it is bad for the planet (therefore the next generation), and most would agree that causing suffering is unethical. Traditional, convenient or delicious are, for me, not reasons that outweigh these other matters.

just re read this article. I saved it from last year. Thanks for writing this and for all the comments….all helps remind me why I changed my diet in the first place. Also helpful to read other people have similar reactions/disinterest from their families. I don’t understand that part really, other than that it makes people very uncomfortable to confront the issues.